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Samsung flexes at IFA with a 105-inch bendable UHD TV

Today in Berlin, Samsung doubled down once again on its vision of home entertainment. Hint: It's curved. Since 2013, the debate over curved versus flat TVs has raged in the hallowed halls of the AV geeks: Is

Samsung kicked off its official press event in IFA Berlin today, and the company doubled down once again on its vision of home entertainment. Hint: It's curved.

Since 2013, the debate over curved versus flat TVs has raged in the hallowed halls of the AV geeks: Is it more immersive or does it detract from picture quality? Is it a breakthrough or a gimmick?

Now, Samsung is asking a different question: Why not have it both ways?

The company's new 105-inch bendable UHD TV — the largest of its kind — goes from curved to flat at the touch of a button. It's not a completely novel concept, as the 105-inch big boy follows on the heels of an 85-inch bendable TV from CES 2014. However, the new model sports a 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio that could make it the ideal set for cinema lovers.

While the bendable UHD TV was the headlining entry of its press event, Samsung also showcased its S9W 105-inch permanently curved UHD with 21:9 aspect ratio. The S9W isn't anything that hasn't been seen before, however.

In response to widespread complaints over a lack of native UHD content, Samsung also highlighted the progress of UHD streaming by entities like Amazon and Netflix. In addition, the company took this moment to announce its 500GB UHD Video pack for transferring and downloading UHD content.

Samsung hasn't revealed pricing or availability for its bendy UHD TV at this time, but here's some context: The permanently curved 105-inch ultrawide 5K S9W television costs a cool $120,000. The new bendable model has lower 4K resolution, but the cost could be even higher given the mechanical and material innovations required to build it.

The new TV will curve at 4200R, or the curve of a circle with a radius of 4.2 meters. According to Samsung QA Engineer David Jung, this positions all parts of the screen at an equal distance from the viewer's eye.

This release serves to further confirm Samsung's commitment to curved display technology, a position already reinforced by yesterday's announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. In total, the new TV puts Samsung's curved display count at 17 models for the European market.